Contemporary Latin pop influenced by indie rock?

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There's this Mexican restaurant by where we live that plays some satellite station with Spanish language pop. Don't know if the music is all from Mexico - we live in San Diego and there's no Mexican broadcast station we get that plays music like this. A lot of the music on this satellite station is very contemporary sounding - a bit more Euro dance/electro sounding. But then, several times we've heard these tunes played that sound like indie rock. There was one sort of Stereolab sounding thing, one song that had this kind of Beatles groove, and then one that sounded like some kind of indie guitar pop with retro sounding guitar and lots of chords.

Anyone have any knowledge about this stuff?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 21 July 2006 22:20 (nineteen years ago)

juana molina is wonderful, and from argentina. she plays latin folky stuff with lots of pretty samples and electronic elements and vocal idiosyncracies.

― Emily B (Emily B), Saturday, 22 July 2006 03:14 (nineteen years ago)

There are loads of 'rock en espanol' groups. Cafe Tacuba maybe.

See the World Music 2006 thread and I am sure there have been other threads that discuss such artists.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Saturday, 22 July 2006 04:18 (nineteen years ago)

More than twenty years ago, I remember hearing fairly faithful cover versions of the Pretenders' "Back On The Chain Gang," the Clash's "Train In Vain" and (of all things) Devo's "Come Back Jonee" performed in Spanish by Mexican bands on Mexican restaurant jukeboxes. Just part of the pop vernacular at the time, and these songs didn't sound out of place, aside from the fact that they were recognizable to someone with no knowledge of Mexican pop. More recently, I've heard plenty of Smiths' songs performed in Mex-style. So I wouldn't be surprised at "indie rock" stylings. Mexico City always had a kind of avant-garde twist in its cooler circles . . . when one considers how much Stereolab stole from Esquivel alone, it makes sense! And the Beatles were quite big in Mexico, with many mop-top Mexican groups sprouting in their wake, all the way to the more psychedelic period. Like you, I'm always surprised by this, though it makes perfect sense really.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Sunday, 23 July 2006 04:52 (nineteen years ago)

Wikipedia knows

― Roque Strew (RoqueStrew), Sunday, 23 July 2006 06:30 (nineteen years ago)

Awaiting the arrival of xhuxk...

― Monty Von Byonga (Monty Von Byonga), Sunday, 23 July 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

there's a pretty big *spanish* indie pop / indie rock scene
not sure this is what you're describing, but stuff like la buena vida, le mans, los fresones rebeldes, los planetas, ibon errazkin, etc

check out labels elefant, siesta

― rentboy (rentboy), Sunday, 23 July 2006 11:16 (nineteen years ago)

(BTW, my answer would've been the same in 1998, so take my suggestions with a dated grain of salt)

― rentboy (rentboy), Sunday, 23 July 2006 11:17 (nineteen years ago)

There's am upcoming indie scene in Mexico fueled in part by Myspace and this Mexico City radio station Reactor 105. Some of the band names to possibly check out are Zoe, Los Dynamite, Austin TV, Hello Seahorse, Sub Division, Los Odio, Fatalist, Veo Muertos, Instituto Mexicano Del Sonido, Yokozuna, Six Million Dollar Weirdo, Replica, Furland and The John Band from Mexico City. There's also an inexplicably strong surf scene with bands like Lost Acapulco, Twin Tones, Fenomeno Fuzz, etc.

Vainilla, Porter and Hugo from Guadalajara.

In Monterrey, north of the country, you might find a nice indie label that didn't release any albums for years but finally they're believing they might as well work as a biz, they are Happy Fi Records and some of their artists are Quiero Club, Niña, Mario, Goma and She's A Tease. Besides these bands you can find in or around Monterrey some other bands like Album, Abeja and Ruidos En El Techo, Vaquero. Spread around the country you might find bands like Maniqui Lazer, Golden Rainbow Kid, etc.

I don't really think that any of these would have any international prescence yet but some might be interesting. I'm just posting those ones who have had some radio airplay by this Public Radio Station but there are some interesting things about to happen in Mexico.

― elgolfo (elgolfo), Sunday, 23 July 2006 14:42 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not sure if the following fit the bill (it, you know, depends on what you mean by both "Latin pop" and "Indie rock") but I'd rec checking out the following:

Natalia Lafourcade, Juliete Venegas, Ely Guerra, Aterciopelados, Andrea Echeverri, Liquits, Plastilina Mosh, Nortec Collective, Jaime Sin Tierra, Entre Rios, Babasonicos....

― Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:14 (nineteen years ago)

There's a Mexican restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn that I've wondered precisely the same thing about.

"What the fuck IS this? Sounds like Spanish Blondie with 90s-indie fuzz guitars. WTF?"

Wanted to ask 'em what was playing, but (characteristically) chickened out...

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:25 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I DID ask and they told me it was a satellite station. I don't know what the station is, though. Someone there said, "I guess it's considered 'pop'" and she referred me to a local broadcast station that she said played similar music, but I've listened to that station a bit and haven't heard anything like it.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

Gah. I hate that.

I'll probably never hear the song again until I'm like 90 years old, and then one day, one of my great grandkids will be playing it on his space-guitar, and I'll be like, "Gah! It's that fucking song! What is it, Timmy? Please tell me what that song is called, you beautiful, tow-headed rascal! Please tell me now."

And little Timmy will be like, "Well..."

And then I'll die. And I'll never get to find out what that it's called. Which sucks.

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:35 (nineteen years ago)

oh don't forget Hummersqueal, they're from Mexico City and they sound just like all the US murk-pop bands except en español which sounds cooler but not that much

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

the song with a Beatles groove was probably a Chetes (Vaquero frontman / formerly Zurdok) track.

― adrián ruiz (sagan), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

The beatlesque one might be "Sunshine" by Vaquero? They only have one album so it's in there. Let me try to upload some songs and I'll let you know where to find'em. Prolly my blog... any ideas?

― elgolfo (elgolfo), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 23:21 (nineteen years ago)

It's amazing! Actual foreigners, who don't even speak English (except for what they learned in school, or by coming here), get to go to the web and download THE VERY SAME MUSIC THAT REAL AMERICANS LISTEN TO. Whenever they want! Without proper documentation! Some of them even live here, or their dads do, or whatever. And then, you know, sometimes they play music and it sounds JUST LIKE the stuff they're listening to, except maybe a little different! They don't put in any of those mariachi horns! Or congas, even!

It's scandalous. It may be too late to stop the Japanese from appropriating Anglo-American indie rock, but for God's sake let's keep it first-world, people!

(Non-sarcastic note: What I really mean is that asking "What's that Beatlesesque Spanish-language indie rock?" is not much different from asking "What's that Beatlesesque indie rock from California?" There could be dozens of answers. My sense is that indie-type rock is about as popular in Spanish-speaking places as it is here, which is to say not very but enough.)

― Vornado (Vornado), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

seven years pass...

I saw Natalie Lafourcade in DC last night. She's touring in support of her new album that turns Agustin lara boleros and such into indie-pop, although sometimes she sounded pretty trad, and sometimes she instead added dub effects and guitar loops. Kind of ambitious -- it did not all work, but I liked a lot of it.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 December 2013 15:30 (twelve years ago)

She had a horn player who sometimes added New Orleans sounding playing. That was different.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 December 2013 15:41 (twelve years ago)

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